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Sports

Monday, December 28, 1998

Mosby gets all-state honorable mention

PECOS, Dec. 28 -- Pecos Eagles senior Sherrie Mosby received honorable mention on the Class 4A All-State volleyball team, which was released Christmas Eve, along with the all-state teams for the other five classifications.

Mosby was voted Most Valuable Player in District 2-4A last month, after Pecos won their first district title in six years before losing in the playoffs to eventual state champion Dumas. She was a three-year varsity member of the Eagles who led the team i
n kills during he 1998 season, in which Pecos finished with a 17-10 record.

Mosby was the only 2-4A player to receive recognition on the team, though there were other players from the Eagles' former District 4-4A. Andrews senior Ali Bane was a first team selection, while the Mustangs' Leeza Lopez and San Angelo Lake View's Hilla
ry Lee also received honorable mention

Along with Bane, three other players from the Permian Basin were named to the Class 3A All-State team, Alpine's Amnanda Havens and Jill Addison and Tracie Phillips of Lamesa, while in Class A Wink's Jess Ann Fernandes and Fort Davis' Jessica Whitley were
chosen to the first team.

Mosby was the second Eagle to receive all-state recognition in the week leading up to Christmas. Senior Mark Abila was a second-team selection to the Class 4A All-State Football team, released on Dec. 18.

Cowboys' season finish pleases Gailey

By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas, Dec. 28 -- For 30 minutes, the Dallas Cowboys once again looked like a team worthy of being considered NFC East champions, one that actually could have some success in the playoffs.

And for coach Chan Gailey, that was good enough.

Gailey rested several key players for the second half of Dallas' 23-7 victory over Washington on Sunday night, satisfied that his offense is back on track heading into Saturday's playoff opener against Arizona.

In two quarters, the Cowboys had as many or more points (20) and yards (282) than in any of their previous three games, two of them losses.

Big plays from big-play makers Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith made it especially satisfying for an offense that had been struggling for more than a month.

``This could have happened next week, and it would've been OK,'' Gailey said. ``But you would have liked for it to have been this way -- and then you hope it carries over.''

Dallas' reward for this victory was more than just postseason momentum. The Cowboys also bounced back from 6-10 in Barry Switzer's last year to 10-6 in Gailey's debut season.

The victory also made the Cowboys the first NFC East team to sweep the division.

``No one else will ever be the first to do that,'' Gailey said.

For Washington, it was a miserable end to a pretty miserable year. The Redskins started 0-7, then won six of eight before giving a pretty futile performance in the finale to finish the season 6-10.

Today begins what should be an interesting offseason in the nation's capitol. The team is up for sale and a new owner could mean new leadership in the front office, on the sidelines and in the huddle.

``I am sure that over the next month there will be announcements about the changes that will happen,'' said coach Norv Turner, who could keep his job if John Cooke purchases the team from his father's estate. ``I am just as excited as you are to find out
what those changes will be.''

Dallas began this game as sluggishly as it played in losses to New Orleans and Kansas City and in its unimpressive victory over Philadelphia the previous Sunday. A missed field goal and a made one were all the Cowboys had to show for their first two driv
es.

Then, after Washington took a 7-3 lead, the old Dallas re-emerged. In three drives, the Cowboys scored 17 points on 15 plays, covering 228 yards along the way.

It all began with a beautiful 51-yard lob from Aikman to Irvin, who used his size and strength to pull it in while holding off cornerback Darrell Green. It was vintage Irvin -- although more like vintage 1995 than anything seen lately.

``That was the spark that got everything going,'' Aikman said.

Three straight rushes by Smith resulted in a go-ahead touchdown that also was the 124th rushing TD of his career, breaking a tie with Marcus Allen for the NFL record.

``It means a lot because throughout nine years there have been a lot of people ahead of me,'' said Smith, who finished the regular season with 1,332 yards, his most since 1995.

Smith was the star of the next drive, too, weaving for a 26-yard touchdown on a run that Gailey said ``will go on some highlight film somewhere.''

Can the Cowboys keep it up? They'll find out at 3 p.m. Saturday against a Cardinals team they've already beaten twice. Dallas won easily 35-10 in the opener, then had to hold on for a 35-28 victory in the last meeting.

``I think our team is just as good as any in the playoffs,'' Smith said. ``We've got to go out and show it on a weekly basis starting this weekend. If we play like we did tonight, or better, we can beat any team.''

Jacke's long shot puts Cards in playoffs

TEMPE, Ariz., Dec. 28 (AP) -- The Cardiac Cardinals are headed to Big D.

The Arizona Cardinals, long the most woebegone of NFL franchises, are finally back in the playoffs.

``I've got to pinch myself to see if this is a dream or not,'' said fullback Larry Centers, who has gone through the worst of times in the team's woeful decade in the desert. ``But we're actually in the dance. There were times I didn't feel like this day
would come.

``It's just a great day in the life of a longtime Cardinal. Believe me.''

With what has become a characteristic blend of crushing letdown followed by dramatic triumph, the Cardinals beat the San Diego Chargers 16-13 on Sunday to wrap up their first playoff berth since the strike-shortened 1982 season.

Arizona needed to win its last three games to make the playoffs, and it won all three on field goals by Chris Jacke as the game ended. On Sunday, Jacke, who had missed from 45 and 42 yards earlier, made a 52-yarder for the victory.

``We find a way to get it done,'' said Jake Plummer, the engineer of the Cardinals' wild ride. ``Right now, we've got to enjoy this and let this sink in and realize there's something special about this team.''

Arizona plays a first-round game at NFC East champion Dallas on Saturday.

The Cowboys beat Arizona twice this season, but the last game, a 35-28 loss in Sun Devil Stadium on Nov. 15, ended in a controversial non-call of what appeared to be pass interference that prevented Arizona's Rob Moore from catching Plummer's pass in the
end zone.

``It's going to be fun. In the playoffs, everyone tells me the level of intensity just goes up another notch,'' Plummer said. ``They say the third time's a charm.''

For the ninth time in his 26 games as Cardinals' quarterback, Plummer brought his team back from a fourth-quarter tie or deficit to win.

The last two minutes of the game were high drama. The rest was mostly deadly dull.

Arizona held on precariously to a 13-6 lead and had the ball fourth-and-inches at the Chargers' 25 with two minutes to go. Plummer wanted to go for it, but San Diego, with the NFL's No. 1 defense, had stopped Arizona's ground game all afternoon.

So coach Vince Tobin sent Jacke in to try a 44-yard field goal. It sailed wide to the right.

``Certainly I have second thoughts,'' Tobin said. ``I was hoping he would kick it through. Since he didn't kick it through, I wish we would have quarterback sneaked, which is what I wanted to do in the first place.''

Jacke left the field dejected, hoping he would get another shot.

``A 42-yarder, I should be able to make those nine times out of 10,'' said Jacke, who got into just one game last year. ``I missed two of them today. That's a little bit unlike me. I was just real happy to be able to get out there and do my thing.''

San Diego rallied for a touchdown behind an unlikely hero, Craig Whelihan, who had thrown four interceptions, all of them to Kwamie Lassiter, who tied an NFL record.

Whelihan moved the Chargers downfield, but the drive stalled and San Diego was faced with fourth-and-20 on the Arizona 30 and the fans stood and cheered. But Whelihan found Ryan Thelwell in the end zone for a touchdown.

June Jones, in his final game as San Diego coach before taking the head coaching job at the University of Hawaii, thought about going for two, but decided to kick the tying extra point instead, and it was 13-13 with 16 seconds to go.

``Our defense has been put in some bad situations, but we gave ourselves a chance to win in the end,'' Whelihan said. ``The Cardinals ended up making a great play.''

Eric Metcalf, who had been a disappointment as a kick returner all season, found an opening and ran 46 yards to the San Diego 44. Seven seconds remained.

Plummer hit Frank Sanders for 10 yards, leaving three seconds, just enough for Jacke to get off the game-winning kick.

Six of the Cardinals' victories came on field goals in the final four minutes. Four of them were on the final play.

Arizona's 9-7 record was its best since 1984, four years before the team moved from St. Louis.

Not all the Cardinal demons have been buried. The franchise's last playoff victory was 51 years ago, when they were the Chicago Cardinals and they beat the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFL championship.



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